THE SUNDAY HERALD REPORTS

Glasgow Hawks 46 Stirling County 26: Hosts triumph in error-strewn contest

Alasdair Reid

5 Sep 2010
TheY might be cranking up the cost of the bevvy in these parts, but Scotland remains the home of the cut-price try if the evidence of this match is anything to go by.

They were almost giving the things away at Old Anniesland yesterday, a bargain-basement bunglefest in which the two teams seemed more concerned with outdoing each other’s generosity than actually winning the game.

Yet profligacy apart, this wasn’t such a bad old scrap, and it certainly deserves to be remembered if only for the softness of some of the scores. The Hawks, picking up their third bonus-point win on the trot, were deserving and comfortable winners, but the proposition that they deserved the comfort of a 20-point margin of victory was one that would have found little support around Anniesland at the end.

Least of all from Peter Wright, the Hawks coach whose plain-speaking ways would make John Prescott seem a master of circumlocution. “The score didn’t reflect the game,” was Wright’s characteristically frank assessment. “There was no way that was a 46-26 game. We struggled for 70 minutes, struggled big time, and they put us under pressure.”

As flattered as they were, though, the Hawks’ greater fitness and determination came to the fore in the last 10 minutes, when they cranked up the scoreline with three tries, bringing their haul for the day up to six. Prior to that, a major upset had seemed on the cards, not least because County were so effective at blasting through the alarming gaps in the home defence.

Rory McKay, the Hawks captain, seems to have acquired some of his coach’s candour, and he made no bones about the fact that his side’s two ties inside the first 15 minutes had only spread complacency through the home ranks. “We thought it was going to be a walk in the park after that,” he explained, almost apologetically. With an away fixture against Currie next on the schedule, he then admitted concentration would be the overriding theme of this week’s training sessions.

Had the Hawks conceded one more try after the 56th-minute touchdown by County No 8 Craig Deacons put the visitors 26-18 in front then they may well have struggled to pull this victory out of the bag. As it was, they girded themselves splendidly, reducing the deficit to a single point with a try by Craig Gossman, the 5ft 8in full-back who would be 7ft 6in if his stature ever matched his commitment.

Gossman ended the game with a man-of-the-match award, although he can count himself just a tad lucky. Just as it was being announced over the public address system, we heard the hooves of Ross Miller, Hawks’ No 8, pounding down the field as he headed for his second try. Miller, who had opened the Hawks’ scoring with a third-minute touchdown, was the only other candidate for the award, and if he had completed his brace just a minute earlier then it would surely have come his way.

When the breakaway trio of Miller, McKay and Andy Hill got into their strides, the Hawks looked truly dangerous. Too often, though, the forwards faltered and they coughed up possession far too easily. It didn’t help that they were given few favours by a rather pernickety referee, but even Wright, who could probably find a grievance if King Solomon was officiating, refused to point the finger in that direction.

Dean Kelbrick had collected the Hawks’ second try in the 12th minute, but County fought back through Graeme Lindsay and Campbell Rae. Stuart Edwards weighed in with a series of precise kicks and County looked increasingly comfortable as their tally headed north.

After the Deacons and Gossman tries, however, the Hawks were well in control right to the end. Joffy White nudged them in front in the 73rd minute and Adrian Smith virtually guaranteed victory with their fifth try two minutes later. Miller’s second, three minutes from the end, put the gloss on a scoreline the overall performance hardly deserved.

Glasgow Hawks: C Gossman; J White, D Kelbrick, D Milne, K Gossman; A White, P Jericevich; N Nyemba, E Milligan, G Hunter, C Harvey, A Kirkland, R Mackay (captain), A Hill, R Miller. Subs used: A Smith, C Taylor, R Niven, K Hamilton, T Steven.

Stirling County: R McGowan; G Lindsay, J Hope, B Archibald, D Gilmour, B Addison; S Edwards, S Kennedy; M Hunterr, A Moffat (captain), Craig Black, C Rae, G Gilchrist, T Edwards, T Clark, C Deacons. Subs used: D Morrison, D Mountford, A Ashe, G Calder, J Graham.

Referee: A Healy

This article was posted on 5-Sep-2010, 06:41 by Hugh Barrow.